Darkness Always Passes
by Mikee1
Summary: It's finally over. It had to be done. But now, things will never be the same again. And can we even survive the aftermath? Minor Sakura bashing from a certain point of view.
1. The End

A/N: Well, here's another fic from me. Should be about 5 or 6 chapters. The concept, oddly enough, came to me in the middle of a huge midnight thunderstorm that lasted, oh, about 20 minutes. And hence, darkness always passes. Hope this fic is good and I hope I get reviews, both good and bad. After all, if people don't criticize then how am I supposed to get any better? And if I don't get many reviews or if there's just a bunch of flamers, I'll simply discontinue the fic. Also, I'm looking around for someone to pre-read for me. Anybody out there willing to do so? Anyways, on with the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto does.

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The blond haired shinobi knew it would end here the second he had entered the room. They faced Orochimaru, his elite ranks of Sound-nin, and _him_. Sasuke.

'After all this time, he's still within the darkness. And now, three years later…there's no way to break him out of it, is there?' Naruto's thoughts had been betraying his actions, causing indecision that had already led to an extra hit or two Sasuke had made on him. But as Sasuke, having just powered up his curse seal to level two, charged at him with a fully powered Chidori in his palm, full of the malicious intent to do nothing but kill his target, Naruto realized it was over. Sasuke intended to kill him. Not injure or incapacitate or anything other than simply kill. Naruto realized there was no other choice as he gathered and mixed his chakra in his own palm, forming a bright orb that shimmered in a mix of red and blue energy. His friend was gone. 'I have to stop him. I _will_ stop him. Right here, right now.'

The two old friends, then rivals, and turned enemies, charged at each other.

'I can do this.' Naruto's old determination began to emerge in his thoughts as he caught a glimpse of the telltale red pupils of the Sharingan behind the sparks of the black Chidori. 'Yeah, believe it!' Naruto thrust his Rasengan towards Sasuke, bracing himself for the impact.

The explosion disrupted all the other fights going on in the large open room, both on the main floor and the balcony. The foundations of the structure were rocked to their breaking points as a familiar black ball of chakra expanded from the point where the two attacks had met, soon warping into a white ball of similar energy.

This time, Naruto struck first. He drove Rasengan straight into Sasuke's chest. The power stored in the tiny orb practically destroyed Sasuke internally wherever it hit. Naruto's eyes, red due to his use of Kyuubi's power, gazed on in grim satisfaction at the shocked look on Sasuke's face, the damage being too great for him to continue with his attack. The light faded and the orb disappeared, revealing Naruto and Sasuke to the eyes of those still standing and showing the results of the other battles to them. Naruto wasn't paying attention to any of that however. He was looking down upon the dying man that lay before him. Sasuke had reverted to his human form, completely drained of chakra and stamina.

"You were really serious about defeating – no, _killing_ me, weren't you, Sasuke-teme?" Naruto asked softly to his old friend. Sasuke dragged himself to his hands and knees and coughed hard, blood staining his tattered shirt, a few drops of the crimson liquid falling to the floor.

"Is this the power you got from breaking your bonds? Is this what you wanted?" Naruto, completely drained himself, somehow found the strength to grab the front of Sasuke's shirt and lifted him off his feet. Sasuke felt cold, a sure sign of death.

"Guess you were wrong. You left to become stronger than the ninja of Konoha and you ended up losing to them. To Dead Last."

"N-naruto…" Sasuke spat, his voice loathsome and full of anger. "I-I c-can't die here. I still have to kill my brother!"

"It's over Sasuke. I-I'm sorry." Sasuke glared at his friend, thoughts of Naruto and Itachi consuming his mind as he breathed his last breath before he could no longer hold off the fatal injuries he'd taken. Sasuke went limp in Naruto's hands. His body hit the floor at the same time as Naruto's first tear.

The remaining shinobi, only a few Konoha ninja, slowly gathered, standing behind Naruto as more tears fell from the silent blond.

"It's over," Naruto said quietly.

Naruto looked up sharply as he felt a strong hand on his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder to see Jiraiya looking down at him in calm understanding.

"Come on, Naruto." His voice was firm yet soothing. Naruto shifted, turning around slowly and falling into the Sannin's embrace. "Let's go home," Jiraiya said as he softly patted the young man's head.

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Naruto had been staring off blankly ever since the group had left Orochimaru's final lair. The losses had been great but they had all known what it was they were going up against when they had agreed to the S-Rank mission.

The team was large but the size was appropriate for the mission. It was uncomfortably similar to the "Bring Back Sasuke" mission Naruto had gone on so long ago. This time however, the mission objective wasn't to bring back the missing-nin. It was to destroy Orochimaru and Sasuke, along with the rest of their Sound-nin subordinates. It had been time to end the conflict once and for all.

The mission was open to as many young ninja that wanted to go along. In addition to Naruto, Sakura, and Jiraiya, all the rest of the Rookie Nine signed up, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and the Sand trio tagging along as well. Only Sakura, Kiba, the Sand trio, and Ino had emerged relatively unharmed. They were all badly injured however, only unharmed in comparison to the others. Naruto had been badly injured from his fight with Sasuke but his enhanced healing, courtesy of Kyuubi, had gotten him back on his feet quickly.

Chouji had died while fighting alongside Shikamaru, who was also in bad, though stable, condition. The two had gone up against one of Orochimaru's elite ninja, one with a curse seal. Hinata had given her own life to save Neji's while they were fighting outnumbered ten to one. Shino had been killed as a result of pushing himself too far in order to defeat his opponent, another ninja with a curse seal. Shino had outlasted his enemy but had died shortly afterwards as a result of his extensive injuries.

Tenten and Lee were in critical condition and it was uncertain whether either of them would live long enough to see the village again. The group was moving as fast as they could, hoping they'd make it to Konohagakure and Tsunade before the casualties rose again. Sakura was doing all she could to save them but their futures were still unclear.

'Sakura-chan…' Naruto moved silently with the rest of the group. Sakura had fought Kabuto, the ex-Sound-spy, and defeated him by instantly mending her muscles after he'd cut them and taking him out with her Tsunade-like strength. And she'd been standing behind him and Jiraiya. She'd looked at him right before he'd passed out in the old man's arms. Her eyes were full of regret, sorrow, and pain. She hadn't looked at him since. As if he wasn't going through enough torment.

'Times like these, they remind me of when I was all alone. They're all looking at me differently now, avoiding me practically. No surprise really. Despite all their own battles, nobody could've missed that performance we put on.' Naruto had resisted as much as he could but once Sasuke had initially powered up his curse seal to level two, he'd been forced to draw on Kyuubi's power, going straight to four tails and demolishing quite a bit of the arena in the ensuing fight.

'**You should've given me more control, kit. I could've wiped out all those pathetic little Sound-nin in seconds.**' Naruto gave a short, hard laugh in his mind.

'Yeah, along with half of my teammates in the same swipe. I just wish Sakura understood things better.'

'**From your point of view you mean.**'

'Yeah, I guess so. It's not fair. He charges me with killer intent after I've been holding back as much as possible to try and just stop him. And she still can't look at me. She probably sees him every time she merely thinks of me.' Naruto sighed to himself. 'Well, if looking at me causes her that much pain, then I guess it'd be for the best if I let her be alone for a while.'

'**And if she never gets over it?**' Kyuubi asked calmly. Naruto didn't respond.

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'It wasn't his fault. You know that. Sasuke was a t-traitor. He was going to kill Naruto. B-but…he's gone forever now.' Sakura felt like crying for the thousandth time but she was out of tears. She had cried and cried and cried, trying to drown her aching heart. But, naturally, it hadn't made her feel better at all. And so she had progressed into silent mourning. And she had done so to an unprecedented extent, only talking when absolutely necessary. Ino and the others had been trying to get her to open up and talk about her feelings, trying to get it all out in the open, but Sakura hadn't entertained any thoughts of doing so. It had been a day since anybody had even tried to talk to her, which wasn't surprising considering the harsh verbal lashing she had given an undeserving Ino.

'I know she's only trying to help. They all are. And I know I shouldn't have lashed out like that. But when I think of him, all I can remember are the old times. Before all the fighting, before he got taken into the darkness. When we were all friends and we were all happy. But it's all over now.'

Sakura glanced up and quickly looked back down at the ground when she caught sight of orange and black clothing.

'And it was by his hand too. I'm so sorry, Naruto. But every time I look at you, I see him. I – I hope you understand. N-naruto. You've grown so much since then. He was your best friend.'

She chanced a look at the back of Naruto's head. She looked away abruptly as his face emerged in her mind, her dry eyes willing tears that just wouldn't come.

'Naruto…I'm so sorry.'

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Ino looked back and forth between Naruto and Sakura as her mind wandered back to the huge fight that had taken place a few days ago.

She had managed to take down a few Sound-nins through using Shintenshin on one and carefully stabbing the rest in the back. Unfortunately, she had been spotted and quickly outnumbered but she'd taken out the four ninja who'd surrounded her. During the fight, the body she'd been in had taken a beating which Ino felt the full force of when she returned to her own body. After disposing of the weakened ninja whose body she'd taken over, she'd turned just in time to watch Naruto and Sasuke charge at each other with huge chakra forces in their hands. Ino had been shaken by the explosion and knocked of her feet but she barely noticed that she'd fallen. She was too distracted by the faint images inside the orb.

Relief had been her initial feeling when the bright light faded away, revealing Naruto standing over Sasuke. However, with realization of the situation came a feeling of dread in her stomach, mixed with a dark satisfaction that had caused her insides to twist and turn. She watched silently as Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a few final words before Sasuke went limp in Naruto's grip. Everything was pretty much a blur after that.

'And so it's all over.'

Sure, Ino had given up and let go of Sasuke when he'd left, finally seeing him for the selfish bastard he was, but that merely changed the feeling of sorrow that Sakura was enduring into a feeling of emptiness that had settled like a pit in Ino's stomach.

They could all tell themselves he'd been just another missing-nin, another S-Class criminal that needed to be taken down. But they all knew it wasn't true. Ino had lost a piece of her past. Sure, the piece had fallen into darkness, but it had still been there. Now all she had was an empty hole.

'But if this is what a lack of feeling feels like, then Sakura must be going through absolute hell. And Naruto…' Ino had never known the other blond shinobi beyond a first name basis. He'd always been loud and annoying and Ino had taken part in the constant teasing that the poor boy had been forced to endure.

'Naruto, I wish I could help you. But then again, I wish I could help everyone. Just to fill this hole.'

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Naruto stopped in front of the opening in the huge stone wall that surrounded Konoha. The gates were open, a line of shinobi standing in a line about thirty feet behind the gates, Tsunade standing in the middle. Naruto sighed as he walked through the gates and towards the Hokage who held a grim look on her face in response to their weary and sorrowful looks, as well as the caskets they carried.

"It's finally over…we're home." Naruto whispered to himself, sighing once again as he passed through the gates.

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**A/N**: Well, there you have it. Hope you all liked it. If I get enough reviews, maybe 8-10, I'll continue it, but even if I get that many reviews, don't expect an update until sometime after August 1. But please, review, even if you think it was horrible. Your opinions will only help. Unless of course your review consists of mindless flames. In which case, they will be duly ignored. Thank you. D


	2. One Week

**A/N**: Well, here it is, chapter 2. This chapter wasn't pre-read, but the next one probably will be. Not much to say. The story's set after the time jump, a full three years after Sasuke left. This story is going to be six chapters, not counting the epilogue. And please, read and review.

Pre-read by Emily and causeiambetta. Thank you two so much!

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

'**Kyuubi Thoughts'** (None in this chapter but will be in future)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto does. So blame him for the fillers.

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One week.

That was how long it had been.

Sure, it was nice of Tsunade to give them a full week off. But Naruto felt that he'd probably be better off out in the wilderness fighting for his life than sitting around with nothing else to do other than think about Sasuke's fate. So he had busied himself with training, pushing himself almost as hard as Lee and Gai usually did. Almost.

"Heh, no need to kill myself like those two," Naruto said to himself as he punched the bare, beaten log in front of him. 'Especially after surviving that –– '

Naruto's thought process abruptly ended. He punched the tree with as much force as he could as Sasuke's limp body appeared in his mind's eye once again. He almost didn't feel the bones in his hand break. (1)

Grabbing his right hand in pain, Naruto swore loudly. "Damn it! Why? Why won't you get out of my head? Haven't you tormented me enough already?"

The next second he was up in the trees, silent as a single falling leaf, while a young pink-haired girl walked into the training ground.

Naruto had been getting plenty of stealth training during his little vacation as well. To anybody who watched, it would seem as though Naruto was avoiding Sakura. But to anybody who knew them, she was still avoiding him. He was just doing it for her.

'She still hasn't looked at me, much less talked to me. How long are we all going to be mourning?' He sighed and jumped away, giving Sakura the privacy he knew she wanted from him. 'I wish she'd just look at me. But if she won't, I won't make her.'

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"T-they wouldn't even give you a memorial service. I suppose that's because of their ignorance. They've called Naruto a demon just because he has one sealed inside him. And now – now they've decided to ignore everything you did for them because of how you ended it. They erased your past with them just because you erased your future." A tear slowly rolled down Sakura's cheek.

"A future that was never meant to be."

Sakura pulled out a bouquet of flowers, a funeral arrangement. When Sakura had asked her for it, Ino had set it up for her without a word. (2) Ino had been uncharacteristically quiet, just like Naruto. Then again, everybody was being quiet. Even so, it was quite a sight to see Konoha's two loudest ninja so quiet. Sakura would've been impressed if she wasn't so sad herself.

"Here," she whispered. The dark clouds lay an appropriate shadow over the clearing. Sakura placed the bouquet at the foot of the middle of three logs, the same one that Naruto had been tied up to by Kakashi so long ago.

"I – I know it's not much. I just felt that you deserve to be remembered…as the Konoha shinobi you once were…as the man I loved."

The rain started to fall, mixing with her tears. It wiped the tear stains off her cheeks and plastered her pink hair to her face. It quickly soaked the ground and the flowers.

"Good bye, Sasuke-kun. I'll always…love you."

She just couldn't take it anymore and turned and ran off into the forest. The rain let up soon after but the clouds remained.

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'Damn rain,' was the first thought that came to Naruto's mind as he lay face down in a muddy puddle. He muttered something about inventing a rain-stopping jutsu while he lifted himself off the ground with his left hand, his broken right hand still throbbing in pain. Or at least he tried to lift himself. He groaned as his hand slipped.

"Naruto?" The voice was distinctly feminine but Naruto didn't bother to even wonder whose it was. It didn't sound too familiar. He rolled over onto his back and looked up into the face of a blond girl with full pale blue eyes, a questioning look on her face.

"I-Ino?" Naruto stuttered weakly, barely audible.

"What happened to _you_?"

"Well let's see. Punched a tree too hard, broke my hand, ran through the forest in the rain, slipped right on the last tree, and fell into this muddy puddle in the middle of this road. _That's_ what happened to me," Naruto finished with a bitter snap.

Ino was shocked at first, her jaw dropping slightly. Then her face scrunched up in anger, her own attitude kicking in.

"Well, sorry for trying to be just a little concerned. Sorry to break it to you but not everyone is out to make your world a living hell."

"You sure about that?"

Blond stared at blond, determinedly angry pale blue eyes looking into dull and emotionless cerulean eyes, both waiting to see who would make the next move.

Ino sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head, and held her hand out. Naruto looked from her hand to her face, then back to her hand, a skeptical frown on his face. Ino sighed again, angrily this time, and rolled her eyes.

"I don't bite, ya know."

Naruto shrugged. "I've heard otherwise," he said nonchalantly, taking her hand anyways. She pulled him to his feet.

"I'm sure. Now come on, let's go get your hand fixed up." She pulled his arm in the general direction of the hospital, only mildly surprised when he didn't budge. She rolled her eyes again.

'This is _so_ not worth it.'

"No, that's ok. I have to go see Tsunade-no-baachan anyways. She'll heal it." He gave her a grin. It reminded her of how he had used to constantly give off those huge, happy grins back at the Academy and as a Genin.

Ino almost laughed at his pathetic excuse to avoid the hospital, where a certain pink-haired girl was certain to be found. His slight hesitance immediately gave it away, though under the circumstances, Ino would've known it was a lie anyways.

And his smile. It was so obviously fake that it was painful to look it. Ino instead looked at the ground, unable to look into his smile while his closed eyes betrayed so much pain.

She would've broken it, told him to stop trying to act so tough, to go see Sakura, and to move on. She simply couldn't.

Maybe it was because she felt sorry for him. Maybe it was because she felt sorry for herself. Maybe it was because she felt that somehow they could relate to each other, that their pain was similar. Maybe it had something to do with the silent act of giving Sakura that bouquet earlier. Maybe there was no reason at all.

But Ino did it anyways, looking back up to his closed eyes, knowing the pain hidden behind them. She didn't break his smile. She caused it to soften.

"Fine but I'm walking with you."

He opened his eyes, giving her that skeptical look again.

"Um, well…"

"If you go alone, you'll probably just fall and hurt yourself again," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I'm going." This time she spoke with an air of finality. She grinned at him, closing her own eyes to hide her own pain and the sympathy she had for him.

Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his reddish-golden hair. It had gained a dark red tint shortly after they had departed Orochimaru's hideout. It was simply another side effect of being the container of Kyuubi.

'So many have died as a result of you and me, Kyuubi. But Ino doesn't seem scared…'

"Well, ok then."

And the two set off, unaware of the green eyes that silently watched, hidden in the shadows of the trees.

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Ino watched Naruto as they walked towards the Hokage's office. He walked slowly with his head down, kicking pebbles and stepping in puddles.

Ino had never really known Naruto all that well. She vaguely remembered him always being left out and picked on when they were little kids, but she had always stayed out of it, spending more time enhancing her own image. In the Academy, he was loud and annoying, a condition that only worsened when they'd graduated.

But she the first time she'd really taken notice of him was during the Chuunin Exams. He'd displayed a level of skill she never would've expected from him in that fight with Neji.

And then he'd disappeared for two and a half years. He came back older and more mature. And five months after his return, he'd had to kill his best friend. Ino's eyes welled up with tears as thoughts of Chouji and the others who had fallen in that battle came to her mind. She'd cried and cried and cried on the trip back, unable to cope with that fact that she'd never see him devour bag after bag of chips and still be able to stand and walk with her.

And now here they were, walking along in silence. And for some reason, Ino felt happier than she had ever since they'd returned from that mission. Granted she was still sad. But it felt lighter now.

"So, how's Shikamaru doing?" Unlike his earlier tone, he now sounded compassionate and concerned. Ino bit her lip hard as her thoughts turned to her other close friend and teammate and his condition.

"He's improved very little. He's still in shock and withdrawn. He – he won't even talk to me."

"I'm sorry." She didn't expect him to say anything else.

"I heard Kiba's going to be transferred to your team now." She nodded. "I saw him and Akamaru hanging out around their old training ground. He…he's not doing much better than Shikamaru."

"Yeah. Sakura told me Lee and Tenten are getting better, though they're both going to have to go through some pretty extensive physical therapy. And Neji's happy that they survived but…"

Neither spoke for a minute. Hinata giving her life to save Neji's had torn up the poor boy. He wouldn't speak about it but his inner conflict was obvious. He had always been cruel to her, teasing her for her wishes for peace and harmony and this was how she had repaid him. Ino changed the subject.

"I asked Sakura how you were doing earlier." She saw him wince out of the corner of her eye at her name. They were both looking down at the ground now as they walked down the stone path. "She said she hasn't seen you lately and left…" Ino let her voice trail off, not wanting to push too hard. The two were silent again for a minute before Naruto responded.

"I've been busy lately. I guess she has too." Ino decided to push a little harder.

"Busy? We've been free all week. Sure, I've got the flower shop and she works part-time at the hospital, but I don't see how you two could possibly be too busy to see each other." She spoke lightly, almost tentatively. Naruto spoke coldly.

"She wants alone time and I'm giving it to her. What do you want me to do, get in her face and make things worse?"

Ino's face was full of solemn sorrow as she looked at Naruto's glare.

"You don't deserve this," she said softly.

"Well, what difference does it make? Whether or not I deserve it doesn't matter." His anger died as Ino looked away. His voice softened.

"It doesn't matter."

They stopped walking and looked up at the Hokage's Tower. The two stood in a somewhat awkward silence for a few seconds.

"I'd…better get back to the shop now."

"Yeah, I'll…see you around."

"Yeah, see you."

And the two parted ways.

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"Obaachan!" Naruto yelled loudly and obnoxiously, drawing out the word as he walked down the hallway towards the Hokage's Office. He slowly opened the door a few inches and looked into the empty room.

"Obaachan?"

Naruto never saw her fist coming as pain blossomed on his head. He fell forward into the room, yelling in pain, his hands entangled in his hair, clutching his head. Tsunade came stepped out from behind the door, her face contorted in anger.

"I told you to stop calling me that." It took him a minute or so to recover and stand up.

"That's no excuse to hit me!" He cried angrily, pointing an accusing finger at her. "How dare you, you old hag!"

A small vein appeared on Tsunade's forehead and fires burned in her eyes.

"What did you just call me?"

Naruto had less than a second to regret his words before a chase around the office ensued, resulting in Tsunade holding Naruto up by the collar of his white T-shirt, glaring into his face. Naruto smiled weakly.

"You look really young up close though."

She dropped him to the ground, causing him to groan in pain as he landed on his bad hand.

"What do you want anyways? You're still free until tomorrow." Naruto say up, rubbing his hand, a grouchy look on his face.

"I broke my hand. So just hurry up and fix it."

"How'd you break it?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"So?"

"So tell me."

"I don't want to."

"Ugh, why didn't you just go to the hospital?"

"Why should I?"

"Cause you can't just waste the Hokage's time without good reason. And breaking your hand and choosing the Hokage over the hospital for no apparent reason isn't a good enough reason." The room was silent for a second.

"Are you going to fix up my hand or not?" Tsunade rolled her eyes and took Naruto's hand in her palm. She put her right hand over his and it glowed blue briefly.

"Done," Tsunade said, watching the boy tentatively flex his outstretched hand.

"Took you long enough," Naruto mumbled, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Next time, get over your useless procrastinations and just go to the hospital. You and Sakura and Kakashi have a mission tomorrow anyways. Is it really worth it to stay out of her way for just one more day?"

Naruto shrugged and walked of the office. Tsunade sighed and dropped herself heavily into her chair.

'What are we going to do?' She turned as light entered the office, squinting at the clearing sky and emerging sun.

"I need a vacation."

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**A/N:** Well, that's that. For the next chapter, I'm considering either a minor mission or a huge, powerful fight. So I'm asking you, the readers, to vote in your reviews. Just minor or major. Please review and vote.

1. I know it's pretty hard to believe that Naruto could break his hand in the manner that he does, but please bear with me. I'm sure that by putting all the chakra into the punch and not into cushioning the blow, he could break it.

2. Just to clarify, since I had a pre-reader get confused at this point, Sakura asked Ino to put a bouquet of flowers in a funeral arrangement, seeing as she knows all the meanings of flowers and such. Ino complied without saying anything.


	3. Back in the Field

**A/N**: Sorry for the wait (assuming some of you were waiting). I wasn't able to finish up this chapter before school started so it got pushed back a bit.

**NOTE**: I heavily suggest taking a bit of time to watch episode 86 of Naruto, which can be found on YouTube. Even only watching Part 2 would be very helpful in understanding some of this chapter.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto. I wish I did. But I don't.

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Naruto slowly sat up, stretching his arms and yawning. The sun shone brightly through the wide window in his bedroom.

"Ah, finally, back to the missions. Tsunade-no-baachan better have something good for me."

Naruto quickly dressed and made and ate his breakfast, which naturally consisted of milk and ramen. Grinning, he tied his forehead protector to his forehead and burst out the door, running down the streets as fast as possible, heading towards the usual meeting spot for Team 7. Several people yelled at him for disturbing their peaceful thoughts as he ran by, most though just ignored him. A few minutes later, he was panting while leaning over the railing on the wooden bridge.

Neither Sakura nor Kakashi were at the spot yet, not surprising Naruto much. Sakura was probably hesitant in returning to the field and Kakashi was…well he was Kakashi. Naruto smiled as he wondered what half-assed excuse the silver-haired Jounin would use this time.

Naruto lost track of time as he stared into the clear blue water. He sighed, looking past his reflection, losing himself in his thoughts. Images passed through his mind; images of Sasuke when they were both little kids, of all his friends at that age, of when they were all Genin, of when he had come back from his two years of training, and of the memorial for all of them. Sakura appeared but she was too far away.

'So far away…' Naruto thought to himself, confused as the figure began to shift. He recognized the figure it shifted into instantly.

'Ino…'

"Hey." The soft voice broke him out of his reverie. He jumped back from the railing, looking to his left at Sakura who looked back at him. His face was uncertain. Hers was soft but didn't show any other emotions.

"Hey."

Silence settled between them. Her gaze continued to linger on him and he stared nervously at the ground, shuffling his feet awkwardly. After a minute or so, she turned, leaning on the railing and looking out at the scenery.

"You know, I never noticed how beautiful this place is." Naruto looked up at her, his mouth slightly agape. "It's not full of flowers or anything. But it's nice and peaceful. Wouldn't you agree?" Naruto closed his mouth, his lips curving in a very small smile. Somehow, it was happy and sad at the same time.

"Yeah, I would."

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A poof two hours later signaled the arrival of Kakashi, who grinned sheepishly at their angry faces.

"Sorry, I was coming to meet you two when I ran into this young girl who claimed she had orders from the Hokage to go see her about an urgent matter and it turns out that the young girl is going to be the third member of Team Seven. Temporarily of course."

Sakura rolled her eyes and Naruto cocked an eyebrow. But both their mouths dropped a few centimeters as a girl with bleached blond hair and pale blue eyes stepped out from behind Kakashi, smiling weakly.

"He's not lying – "

"Ino?" Sakura asked incredulously. "_Ino_ is going to be on our team? But what about her team?" Meanwhile, Naruto was silent, trying to look like he was in deep thought despite the lack of thoughts going through his mind.

'…Ino...On Team Seven……Ino?'

"Well unfortunately, with Chouji out and Shikamaru in a mentally unstable condition, the Godaime decided that for now Ino should come with us. Kiba was the first choice but seeing as Akamaru hasn't fully recovered yet, he wasn't really an option."

Sakura opened her mouth but then closed it, unable to think of anything to say. Naruto continued to be silent as well and the four stood on the bridge, an awkward silence between them. Ino shuffled her feet and stared at the ground while Sakura resumed looking at the scenery. Naruto simply stood there, looking somewhat clueless.

Kakashi cleared his throat. The three Chuunin looked up at the Jounin expectantly, though not exactly sure of what to expect.

"Now the mission," The girls kept their expectant looks and Naruto grinned.

"We've been assigned to go to Takuyo Village and investigate a series of robberies. They have been occurring over the past few weeks and have been increasing in intensity steadily. The village is a good week away, so you'll need to go home and pack some clothes and other necessities."

The three nodded and turned to leave.

"Oh and by the way," They stopped, keeping their backs to him. "There have been some rumors of high-class ninjutsu and genjutsu being used in some of the robberies. This is a B-Rank mission. Team Gai will be coming with us. We'll meet at the gate in an hour."

------------------------------------------------------------

"Hm, I guess I'll just pack the usual," Ino said to herself, throwing a few sets of clothing into her pack. She had long ago spiced up her wardrobe, throwing in some other colors beyond dark purple. There was still plenty of purple, though now there was some red, a little pink, black and white, and even a bit of orange. Naruto's orange and black outfit coming to mind, she threw in the orange along with some red and lots of purple. Smiling, she turned to grab some kunai and exploding tags. However, she bit her lip at the sight of the ninja equipment.

'What if we don't make a good team? Sure, Sakura and I are good friends but we've only practiced together a few times. And I've only seen Naruto in action in those Chuunin Exams so long ago…'

Ino looked up into her bedside mirror and shook her head, placing a determined look on her face.

'No, we'll definitely get along. We're all Shinobi of the Leaf, not to mention all part of the old Rookie Nine. We're some of the best ninja Konoha has ever seen. We'll make a great team.' She chuckled.

"I just hope Naruto's crush on Sakura isn't as annoying to me as it has been to her."

------------------------------------------------------------

Sakura silently packed her clothes and ninja equipment. Sakura had also thrown more variety in her clothing. There was plenty of red and pink, but she tossed in some black and white and some random casual clothes for no real reason in particular. She tossed in plenty of kunai, shuriken, and exploding tags.

She looked up at her mirror, noticing that her eyes were still a little red from the tears that she'd cried that morning. She briefly wondered if the others had noticed.

'So Ino's going to be on our team for a while. She and Naruto did get along well, and the two of us seem to have finally fixed our friendship. I…I owe Ino so much. This new Team Seven will be a great one.' Sakura sighed.

"Maybe almost as good as the original."

------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto was also silent as he packed for the mission. He threw in some orange and black clothing, putting in some casual clothes as well. He threw in his ninja equipment, more than either of the girls, though he hadn't packed as many clothes.

'Must be a pretty difficult B Rank if we're getting back up from two Chuunin and a Jounin (1). Then again, maybe it's just cause we've been off for a week and have a new teammate. Wonder how that's going to work out…'

Naruto didn't remember much about Ino's fighting style, only having seen it briefly in the Chuunin Exams three years ago. All he remembered was slightly above average taijutsu skills and some sort of mind control jutsu. And that she was incredibly skinny.

'But looks like she's filled out since then,' he thought, thinking back to their walk the day before.

'**Mmm, she'd be good to bear my kits.'** Naruto stepped back in shock and fell onto his bed.

'Wh-what? Kyuubi, where'd that come from?'

'**Eh, forget it, kit.'**

Naruto sat in silence for a minute before sighing and standing up. He picked up his pack and looked over at the clock. He smiled and walked out the door, slinging his pack over his shoulder.

"Finally, back to the missions."

**------------------------------------------------------------**

"All right, let's stop here," Kakashi said, casually tossing his pack onto the ground. Naruto dropped his pack beside him and promptly fell forward onto the ground, smiling into the dirt. Sakura and Ino threw their packs onto the ground and then sat on a wide, flat boulder. Neji set his pack down and leaned against a nearby tree, an indifferent look on his face. Tenten threw her pack down and went over to talk to Neji. Gai and Lee slowly put their packs down before challenging each other to 500 laps around the campground by nightfall. Kakashi put his pack down and sighed at the sight two hyperactive, green ninja.

"And if you fail to run 500 laps, then I'll jump rope 2000 times."

"And if you fail to jump rope 2000 times, then I'll do 3000 punches."

"And if you fail to do 3000 punches, then I'll do 4000 kicks."

"And – "

"If you two don't mind, we'd like to leave by morning," Kakashi interjected, "And that means no exhausting yourselves." Teacher and student looked from Kakashi to each other and then turned and dashed off around the campground. Kakashi sighed again before taking out the latest volume of Icha Icha Paradise from his pocket and began to read.

Meanwhile, Naruto had moved over and was leaning against the wide boulder that Ino and Sakura were sitting on, his head resting between the two pairs of legs. He closed his eyes, a small smile gracing his lips. Ino glanced down at him.

"You're that happy to be back in the field?" Ino asked the blond. Sakura chuckled.

"You obviously don't know Naruto very well. There's no place he'd rather be."

"Yeah, Sakura-chan's right. Out here you get to prove how much talent you have and how much training you've put into it. And how much you care about your precious people. Fighting to protect others, it's not only the life of a shinobi." Naruto's small smile turned into a wide grin. "It's the life of a hero; those who will protect others at all costs and make the world a better place." Sakura and Ino looked at each other, a bit of shock evident on both their faces. Neither had expected that much from such a simple question.

Ino grimaced. "Life's not a fairytale. The hero doesn't always get a happy ending. In fact, in reality, there's no such thing as a happy ending."

"I'll get all of my precious people happy endings, Ino-chan."

"That's impossible."

"You don't know that."

"I can be ninety-nine percent sure."

"Well then Naruto-kun will be in that last one percent," Sakura said. Naruto twisted to look away from Ino and up at the pink-haired girl who was smiling down at him, his mouth slightly agape. "If there's anyone who can do it, it's him.

"After all, he doesn't give up that easily." Naruto's grin stretched from ear to ear as Ino looked on, a respectful smile on her face.

**------------------------------------------------------------**

That night, Naruto lay in his sleeping bag, gazing up at the starry night sky. He heard someone turning over beside him and turned over onto his side to see Sakura watching him.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura was silent for a minute and Naruto didn't push her. She bit her lip and looked away, causing Naruto to frown. A second later she looked back, her green eyes betraying the sorrow she felt.

"I…I'm sorry." Her gaze lingered for only a second more before she turned over. Naruto kept his eyes on her for a minute before also turning over, letting himself fall asleep.

**------------------------------------------------------------**

Naruto yawned loudly as he sat up and stretched his arms out. He squinted his eyes in the light of the sun that was just rising above the horizon. Taking his time, he slowly got up, grabbed a set of clothes out of his pack, and set off to find a secluded place to change. Naruto began to wander off into the forest, yawning as he tried to find an open spot among the trees.

Naruto never heard the sounds of someone else moving around until it was too late. He did, however, hear the high-pitched scream Ino let out as she moved to cover herself up with her arms. Naruto blushed bright red, backing up and away from a furious Ino who was advancing on him. Naruto noticed that she had her bra and panties on, though he quickly averted his eyes to her face, putting his hands up defensively as he tried to save himself from her anger.

"I-Ino-chan, I – I'm sorry, um…really, really sorry!" Naruto pleaded desperately as he felt his back hit a tree. He raised his arms higher and crossed them in hopes of blocking the incoming blow, but he knew it was futile.

"Naruto…" Ino growled in a deep, dark voice. The loud sound of her hand slapping him across the cheek caused several birds to chirp and fly out of the trees.

**------------------------------------------------------------**

Half an hour later, Naruto returned to the camp, dragging his feet along and letting his body slump over. He hung his head and was rubbing his cheek, which still glowed bright red, almost as bright as his blush had been. The others, with the exception of Ino, glanced at him and grimaced before returning to their meals. Naruto let his eyes roll up and then fell forward onto his face. Sakura looked down at him in a with a concerned expression while Ino merely closed her eyes and turned away from him with a soft, "Hmph." The rest of the team decided ignoring the matter was in their best interests.

Naruto, remembering that Kakashi had told them the night before that they'd be going into the village today for some recon-type work, had chosen some casual clothes. He was wearing a dark blue shirt and a thin black jacket over it. The jacket had a red spiral on the back with signs on the edges of the spirals. Only Naruto knew that the sign was the same as the seal on his stomach, placed on the shirt with a simple jutsu. He'd put on a simple pair of old, loose, faded blue jeans. As long as he didn't go running around yelling at people to direct him to a ramen stand, he'd be pretty inconspicuous.

Sakura was wearing a form-fitting pink shirt and a short red skirt, nothing elaborate, instead very simple. She definitely wouldn't stand out in a crowd.

Ino was wearing a loose, smooth black shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans that looked somewhere between tight and loose to Naruto's eyes, though he didn't look for long, turning red for a second as Ino's figure flashed in his mind in the clothing he'd seen her in earlier. Or lack of clothing. He turned away quickly, praying that she hadn't noticed his stare or his blush.

Kakashi, for once, wasn't wearing his ninja attire. Instead, he'd gone with a tight black shirt and very dark blue jeans. He still wore his mask though and wore a pair of black sunglasses to compensate for his forehead protector that no longer covered his Sharingan.

"Team Gai will be staying behind and training for the day," Kakashi said as he stood up, Ino and Sakura doing the same. Naruto nodded. "Then let's go."

The four had been walking through the forest for about half an hour before Sakura finally gave into her curiosity.

"Naruto-kun, what happened to your cheek?" Naruto and Ino stiffened. "It's been red ever since you got back from getting changed." Kakashi seemed to be ignoring the conversation. Ino had closed her eyes and crossed her arms, an angry look on her face, but Sakura didn't notice as her eyes were on Naruto, whose entire face had just gone an even darker shade of red. He waved his hands hurriedly, smiling at her with his eyes closed. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"I – I – um, it's nothing, Sakura-chan. Honestly, really, don't worry about it. It's nothing at all, I'm totally fine." Sakura watched him closely for a second before shrugging and turning away, noticing Ino's angry expression.

"Ino? Is…something wrong?"

"Hm?" Ino was silently debating whether or not Naruto deserved for her to tell Sakura when Naruto spoke up for her.

"Oh, Ino-chan's fine. Nothing's wrong with her either. R-right, Ino-chan?" Ino knew she was overreacting to the fact that he had spoken for her but she didn't care much.

"Well nothing except for the fact that you walked in on me while I was changing, you baka!" She yelled at the blond who was backing up in fear of the other blond for the second time that morning. Sakura's eyes widened as her brain processed Ino's statement. Kakashi even looked away from his Icha Icha Paradise novel, glancing at Ino and Naruto with an eyebrow raised.

"I-Ino-chan, I told you, it was an accident. And I'm really, really, really sorry too. Really."

"Oh, and that makes everything okay? What kind of ninja are you anyways? How could you not notice that I was there?"

"It – it was so early and I was so tired."

"That doesn't excuse you from your punishment!" Ino yelled and chased after Naruto, who ran as fast as he could down the path and toward the village. "Get back here!"

"Ahh! I said I'm sorry! Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan, help!" Sakura blinked at the scene. Kakashi looked up once again, this time annoyed at having been disturbed from his reading a second time, before returning to the book.

"Ino-chan, don't do that. I doubt he did it on purpose," Sakura said tentatively, trying to calm her friend.

"So?" Ino had cornered Naruto who had his back up against a tree. He cowered as Ino slowly advanced on him, a sadistic smile on her face. She reached into her kunai pouch and extracted a kunai, fingering the blade. Sakura sighed and ran up to the two, deftly snatching the kunai out of Ino's hand. Ino turned around and pouted.

"Aw, come on, Sakura. I just want to – " Sakura crossed her arms and gave Ino a stern look. Ino's face fell in disappointment. "Fine. Be like that." Naruto grinned.

"Yes!" In typical Naruto fashion, he stuck his tongue out at Ino. Sakura grinned and made a quick movement. Naruto froze, feeling the kunai graze his cheek as it embedded itself in the tree behind him. He cracked a weary smile at Sakura's stern look that was now on him.

"Naruto, I don't care if it was an accident, don't _ever_ do it again. Or not only will I not stop Ino; I'll probably help her," Sakura said with just a hint of a threat in her voice, cracking a small, sadistic smile of her own. Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Hehe, got it. Sorry, Ino-chan, Sakura-chan."

Sakura turned and ran up to Kakashi. Ino kept her glare on him for another second before running after Sakura. Naruto sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Women."

**------------------------------------------------------------**

It was noon by the time they reached the village. Contrary to their expectations, the village was large and had many commercial features. (2) Stands lined the streets, both down the middle and on the sides. The streets were full of people running around, purchasing various goods.

"Kakashi-sensei, how are we supposed to find the thieves in such a busy place?" Sakura asked thoughtfully.

"The thieves always strike shortly after sunset, while the vendors are packing up. Despite increased security, they've been successful every time. Apparently, there are usually twice as many vendors as you see now."

The three Chuunin looked back to the town and noticed that there were plenty of gaps between the stands that could have easily fit another stand or two. They nodded in understanding and the four walked up to the gate to the town.

"All right, you three, I'm going to go look for clues. You three go relax for now." Naruto eyed Kakashi suspiciously. There was something familiar about it.

"Kakashi-sensei, just where are you going to be looking?" Naruto asked as innocently as possible. The silver-haired Jounin smiled.

"Wherever I believe there will be clues." Before Naruto could open his mouth again, Kakashi disappeared in a poof of white smoke. Naruto shook his head disapprovingly.

"Just like Ero-sennin…" He muttered under his breath. Ino and Sakura looked at him questioningly.

"Just like who?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing, nothing, nothing at all." Feeling pressure from the females again, he grinned and scratched the back of his head. The three stood in silence for a minute until Ino shrugged and walked away, Sakura following.

"Eh, how bad could it be?" The platinum blond asked to no one in particular. Had any of them looked down the side street they were passing by at that moment, they would've seen just how bad it was as Kakashi walked into the local brothel. (3)

**------------------------------------------------------------**

Naruto groaned as his stomach rumbled painfully.

"Ino-chan, Sakura-chan, can't we stop for food? Please?"

"We're not going to a ramen stand," Sakura said huffily. Naruto's stomach rumbled again, reminding him that he'd missed breakfast due to his unfortunate encounter with Ino. Ino had calmed down, though she was still ignoring him for the most part.

"Fine, whatever. Can we just get anything? Now?" Neither girl wanted to put up with his incessant pleading any longer and began looking around for a restaurant. Ino quickly spotted a medium-sized barbecue place. She winced and bit her lip hard as she remembered the barbecue restaurant back in Konoha, the one where Shikamaru, Chouji, Asuma, and her had always gone as a team.

"Ino? What's wrong?" Sakura was concerned at the sudden look of pain on her friend's face.

"It's…nothing." She smiled with her eyes closed. "Honestly."

'Well what do you know,' Ino thought. 'Closing your eyes does hide the pain…'

After searching for a while longer, the three found a small sushi bar and sat down. They each ordered a small amount of food and paid together.

"Itadakimasu!" They said in unison before eating the delightful food. They ate in peace and quiet and finished fairly quickly.

Naruto sighed contentedly and leaned back, lightly tapping his stomach to express his content. The girls smiled at the sight, happy to see him happy. The three stood up and walked off to look for ways to pass the last hour before sunset.

**------------------------------------------------------------**

Meanwhile, Kakashi had run into a bit of surprise due to the tall, broad, white-haired man that had just walked in.

"Jiraiya? What are you doing here?" The Sannin, his face red, opened his mouth to respond but Kakashi cut him off. "Oh well I know what you're doing _here_, but what are you doing in this town? I thought you were off gathering information on Akatsuki." The other man's face turned grim at the name of the powerful group.

"I was gathering information on Akatsuki." Kakashi's eyes widened in realization.

**------------------------------------------------------------**

"Where is he?" Ino asked grumpily.

"Obviously you don't know Kakashi very well. He's always late. Very late," Sakura said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Yeah but this is a mission. I thought you two said he was usually more serious on missions."

"Eh, it's just a couple of robbers. There's nothing special about these security guards. It's probably just a couple of missing-nin with nothing better to do."

The three stood on a rooftop overlooking one of the more busy streets of the town. It hadn't been hit in a while so the three had agreed that it was probably a likely target. The three had changed into more appropriate outfits. Naruto was wearing a black, zip-up jacket and smooth, dark pants. Sakura wore short black shorts and a black shirt with a white circle on the back. Ino wore a very dark purple shirt that would've appeared black if not for the moonlight, and loose black pants.

"Still. Asuma-sensei never showed up late. He barely even went off on his own."

"Yeah but he smokes." Sakura, being the second best medic ninja in the world, was heavily against the practice.

"And Kakashi reads an adult novel. Constantly."

"Well that's not going to kill him."

"But it's highly disturbing."

The three froze at the sound of a crash down in the street, followed by several screams. The three Chuunin looked at each other. Naruto grinned and cracked his knuckles.

"Finally, back in action."

**------------------------------------------------------------**

**A/**N: Well there's another chapter. I believe it's slightly longer than the other two. The fight with the thieves will be next chapter, though some of you might see where I'm heading with this mission now. I modeled the town after the one from episode 86 so again, I highly recommend watching it.

1. Remember, this is a post Time Jump/Time Skip (whatever the accepted term is). Naruto's also passed the Chuunin Exams so Sakura, Ino, Naruto, Lee, and Tenten are all Chuunin and Neji is a Jounin.

2. It's very similar to the city that Naruto and Jiraiya stopped at in the Finding Tsunade Arc, just on a smaller scale.

3. Eh, try to think of this in the most positive light possible. The place I had in mind is actually similar to the place Jiraiya went to in that city (it's what Naruto felt was familiar when Kakashi went off alone). Jiraiya was only seen socializing with the women and that's all Kakashi did as well.

Hope you liked it. And please review. To you readers, you've got to understand that reviews, good or bad, are the lifeblood of us writers.


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